ALBUM OF THE YEAR


WITNESS “UNDER A SUN ”

It’s almost impossible to describe the elation you feel on completing the first listen to “Under a Sun” - it’s not just that it’s the best album of 2001 but it’s not too strong to say that it’s easily one of the best albums released in recent memory. Now promoted as an americana band, Witness began life three years ago with a well-received debut of country leaning indie - and as they point out themselves, if that was pretty good, then this is exceptional. Everything is huge - the guitars, the melodies, the choruses, the climaxes - from beginning to end it’s like a massive adrenalin rush which at the same time gives you time to breathe and sets the hairs off on the back of your neck. Its appeal goes beyond the genre, but anyone who wonders how a UK band can do the americana sound authentically need only look to this album as the textbook case from now on. A complete masterpiece. MW


And the rest of our Top 20 albums

Jim Bryson “The Occasionals” Bob Harris has compared him to Ryan Adams, and the comparison isn’t entirely unfair, although Bryson’s collection of organic and passionate songs stands on its own two feet with little effort.

Cash Brothers “How Was Tomorrow” Canada’s Cash Brothers’ debut barely contains a single off track, literally dripping with potential singles and infectious jangle-guitar that keeps you coming back again and again

Jolene “The Pretty Dive” It’s difficult to better “Antic Ocean,” but Jolene managed it with their latest release, at the same time the least country but most accomplished feat to date, with stunning production and strong songs.

Dar Williams “The Green World” Finally released in the UK this year, Dar’s fourth album is a return to form and full of painfully acute and socially aware songs which really do provoke a near nervous breakdown if you do the whole thing at once.

Loudon Wainwright III “Last Man on Earth” Wainwright’s way with words always guarantees a humourous but sombre listen, and even though “Last Man” was more personal than political, he still hasn’t lost his edge for finely observed life songs.

Doug Hoekstra “The Past is Never Past” Curiously sounding like a more together album than its (still excellent) predecessor, this compilation of b-sides and extra tracks is as fine an introduction as any to Hoekstra’s talents.

Tim Easton “The Truth About Us” If our original review wasn’t wholly enamoured with this, it’s proof that the best albums grow on you over time - very much in the same vein as the wonderful James Iha solo album, Easton’s folk-pop songs are warm, exciting and incredibly well conceived.

Dolly Varden “The Dumbest Magnets” Much heralded by Bob Harris and “Uncut” alike, this was Dolly Varden’s third studio album and the one that finally fleshed out their sound to give it a proper setting - the resulting acclaim speaks for itself.

Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci “How I Long to Feel That Summer in My Heart” The finest band to ever come out of Wales brought us the finest album they’ve ever done - heartbreaking violin, spine tingling chord changes and everything you’d normally expect from them on top. Wonderful.




Pernice Brothers “World Won’t End” Joe Pernice moves further and further away from the conventional alt-country sound but still manages to conjour up whole albums full of blinding power-pop.

Graham Brown “Good’n’Broke” For real Steve Earle-style driving country-rock, Graham Brown is without a doubt the key player at the moment. One of the most infectious albums in recent times, and the perfect album for a forty-five minute journey.

Ryan Adams “Gold” It’d be almost impossible to do a review of the year in americana without mentioning Ryan, and “Gold” didn’t fail to please new and old fans alike - every genre under the sun and all of them turned literally to Gold by Ryan’s midas touch.

Utah Carol “Comfort for the Traveller” Lightweight Dubstar-style pop meets self-branded americana which works in a way you wouldn’t have thought possible - full of character, strong melodies and perfect boy/girl harmonies.

Jay Farrar “Sebastapol” OK, so it wasn’t the masterpiece some were hoping for, and it was a world away from Son Volt, but there’s no denying the man’s songwriting skills and totally unique voice.

Cosmic Rough Riders “Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine” The most prolific band of 2001 make music evocative of the Byrds, Fanclub and the rest, so great now that you begin to wonder whether it’s possible in the future to better their last - yet they always somehow manage it, and still available for £5.99 to boot.

Will Kimbrough “This” The comparisons to Neil Finn and Crowded House are clichéd, but in this instance, acerbic lyrics aside, entirely justified - a stunning collection of ten songs that Finn must wish he still has the type of knack for that Kimbrough obviously has.

Sodastream “The Hill for Company” Australian acoustic lo-fi type band produce their second album full of whimsical vocals, delicately beautiful instrumentation, and yet songs that still stand out by a mile.

Paul Burch “Blue Notes” The better of Paul’s two recent albums, the Lambchopee formulated a record of country sounding like it was straight out of the 1950s but easily rivalling anything else this year. Beautiful songs and wonderfully laid back production.

Love “Forever Changes” Our only re-released and remastered album in the twenty, as Amazon put it, this third album by the L.A. folk-rock outfit led by inscrutable singer-songwriter Arthur Lee sounds as fresh and innovative today as it did upon its original release in 1968 - praise indeed.

Silver Jews “Bryte Flight” David Berman’s songwriting gets stronger with every record he records - the fourth album is not only the most country- orientated but also the best he’s ever recorded, with some of the best lyrics you’ll hear anywhere.





Our Top 20 tracks of 2001 (in no particular order)

January “Through Your Skies”
Cosmic Rough Riders “The Pain Inside”
Lazy Sunday Dream “Slow Day”
Cash Brothers “Take a Little Time”
Kasey Chambers and Paul Kelly “I Still Pray”
Matt Hill “Chasing@mytears”
Grapes of Wrath “Sell the Goat”
Ryan Adams “La Cienaga Just Smiled”
Alison Krauss and Union Station “New Favourite”
Dolly Varden “The Thing You Love”
Pernice Brothers “Shaken Baby”
Whiskeytown “Easy Hearts”
Anna Kashfi “Three Wise Men”
Jay Farrar “Voodoo Candle”
Chris Mills “Psycho”
Ryan Adams “Sylvia Plath”
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings “Sing that Rock and Roll”
Clem Snide “Let’s Explode”
Badly Drawn Boy “Spitting in the Wind”
Handsome Family “The Snow White Diner”

YOUR TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2001



1. Ryan Adams “Gold” It was as predictable as the Tories losing the last election, but the sheer scale of Adams’ popularity even took us by surprise - featuring in around 80% of the entries we received, and by the looks of other albums voted for alongside it, “Gold,” seemingly has universal appeal - from fans of bands like the Strokes and U2, to more traditional alt-country fans of the usual suspects... We can almost predict the 2002 chart already.




2. Whiskeytown “Pneumonia” - And if you can’t vote twice for Ryan, the next best thing is to vote for his old band, with this, their final album.

3. Mark Eitzel “The Invisible Man” - Former American Music Club frontman Eitzel returned in 2001 with a universally acclaimed album - yet Eitzel still remains something of a cult figure - outside of sophisticated readership of certain websites that is...

4. Sparklehorse “It’s a Wonderful Life” - Mark Linous’ latest masterpiece is the opposite to Adams’ “Gold” but in its understated way still manages to hit all the right buttons.

5. Pernice Brothers “The World Won’t End” - Joe Pernice might move further away from alt-country by the day but still writes some of the best and most heartbreaking songs in the world.

6. Bob Dylan “Love and Theft” - We hope to have Dylan in our end of year poll in 2011 - somehow, he still manages to get better as each year goes by.

7. Lucinda Williams “Essence” - Some people complained about the lyrics (or lack of) but the music’s beautiful simplicity proves that simply reading lyric sheets hardly does justice to a record.

8. Jay Farrar “Sebastapol” - Anyone expecting Son Volt mark 2 will have been sorely dissapointed, but this was a great pop record in its own right.

9. The Sorentinos “The End of the Day” - Bob Harris had been singing its praises to the hills, and it’s hardly surprising - a wonderful driving record, making music both evocative of but more convincingly now than Tom Petty and company.

10. The Strokes “Is This It” - Just to prove that their power is all conquering, the “new Rolling Stones” could give Mick Jagger a lesson or two with how to promote your new album...

= Handsome Family “In the Air” - Loose’s finest returned with a perhaps less accessible but popular slow burner that in an indirect way provides the perfect antidote to the September 11th hysteria.

YOUR TOP 10 TRACKS OF 2001

1. Ryan Adams “New York New York” The opening track from “Gold” and evocative of its time for other less well planned reasons, “New York New York” is probably a good a song as any marking Ryan’s shift from frontman of relatively unknown band to rock star in his own right. For all disbelievers, the authenticity behind the transition can only lie in the songs themselves, and on the strenght of this first single, Adams has little to worry about.




2. Ryan Adams “Firecracker” - As you can see, Adams has no less than four (or half if you include Whiskeytown) tracks in this section, proof of two things - one, his enduring popularity, and two...

3. Ryan Adams “Rescue Blues” - ...that you can find all the strongest tracks in the first half of an album. “Rescue Blues” is gospel to all intents and purposes.

4. Lucinda Williams “Essence” - The title track to the most recent album, “Essence” is alluring without Lucinda making any effort at all.

5. Ryan Adams “La Cienega Just Smiled” - Would Elton John do a song like this? Maybe, but Ryan’s magic brings it up a notch or two from the song itself.

6. Cosmic Rough Riders “Baby You’re So Free” - The Cosmics had so many good singles in 2001, but this obviously hit the mark the most. If you haven’t heard them yet, you really do need to.

7. Mary Chapin Carpenter “Late for Your Life” - Carpenter sometimes veers into MOR these days, but tracks like LFYL highlight everything that’s good about her songwriting.

8. Shawn Colvin “Whole New You” - Some people still haven’t heard much from Colvin, but “Whole New You” was her best work to date, as this, the title track proves.

9. Jay Farrar “Barstow” - “Voodoo Candle” received a couple of votes too, but the most country sounding track on the album beat the single in the end.

10. Whiskeytown “Bar Lights” - And Adams’ old band finishes off the ten with the final track from the final Whiskeytown album - almost too neat, but you put it here, not us!



ARTIST OF THE YEAR 2001

RYAN ADAMS - We were intending to compile the artists of the year for 2001 into a top ten chart, but it soon became apparent that there was no point, when a grand total of 10 of you (thank you!) voted for someone different, leaving the other 9x% with Ryan (usually followed by “Who else?” in brackets) Ryan’s transition from small time to big is one of those great phenomenons - nobody quite knows when it happened or why (let’s face it - if it was because of great songs, then a million other people like Witness and Pernice Brothers would be number one for weeks and Hearsay would never have happened) but it has, and as a pioneer for a genre he’s still just about associated with, he’s pefect.